Law Student Honored By Massachusetts Black Judges Conference

5/18/2004

BOSTON, MA - Esi Marjorie Lewis of New Paltz, New York, a student at Suffolk University Law School, was one of nine Massachusetts law school students recently honored by the Massachusetts Black Judges Conference at their 17th annual Book Awards Ceremony in recognition of excellent academic achievement.

Since 1987, the Massachusetts Black Judges Conference has awarded stipends to outstanding second-year law students to provide them with assistance in covering the costs of their law books.

Other law schools represented were Northeastern University School of Law, Boston University School of Law, Southern New England School of Law, Massachusetts School of Law, Boston College Law School, Harvard Law School, New England School of Law, and Western New England School of Law.

Massachusetts Black Judges Conference President and First Justice of the Woburn District Court Marie O. Jackson said, “During the 50th anniversary year of Brown v. Board of Education, the Massachusetts Black Judges Conference Book Awards ceremony is a two-fold celebration. We honor the lawyers and judges who were our predecessors in the fight for equal education and racial justice, and we acknowledge the bright and accomplished African-American law students—our lawyers of the future.”

Judge Emogene Johnson Smith, Associate Justice of the Dorchester Division of the Boston Municipal Court, served as chairperson of this year's Book Awards Committee. Judge Milton L. Wright, Jr., First Justice of the Roxbury Division of the Boston Municipal Court, delivered the keynote address.

Candidates for the Book Awards are recommended by the deans of Massachusetts law schools. A committee of members of the Massachusetts Black Judges Conference selects the award recipients based upon scholarship, leadership qualities, potential trial skills, and financial need.

Massachusetts Black Judges Conference supports and encourages African-American judges in Massachusetts, and provides leadership for the exploration and discussion of diversity issues that affect the courts.

For nearly 100 years, Suffolk University Law School, in the heart of downtown Boston, has remained one of the most respected names in legal education. Its expansive curriculum -- more than 200 upper-level elective courses, specialty concentrations, joint-degree programs and an LL.M. in global technology -- enables students to gain a strong academic foundation. A wide range of hands-on experience, including clinical programs, internships and moot court competitions, provides students the practical skills necessary to succeed. Suffolk Law's diverse and supportive community comes together in Sargent Hall, which was dedicated in 1999 and is among the country's most inspiring, modern and technologically advanced settings for the study of law.